October 11, 2023
Dear Coppell ISD Parents and Community,
As your elected Board of Trustees, we want you to know that we are strongly advocating for Coppell ISD during the current special session of the Texas Legislature.
During the regular legislative session last spring, our state lawmakers had access to a record $32 billion in excess revenue, yet they did not provide any significant increase in per-student funding for public schools. Our priority during this special session is to ensure that Coppell ISD, and all public schools, receive the necessary resources required to meet the needs of our students and competitively compensate our dedicated teachers and staff.
CISD has limited local control over how much of our tax revenue can be spent on our students. The state legislature determines the basic allotment per student, and the state recaptures any additional tax revenue in CISD beyond this allotment in what is commonly known as the "Robin Hood" system. The state has not increased the basic allotment per student since 2019, despite a cumulative inflation rate in excess of 20%. Adjusting for inflation would necessitate a minimum funding increase of up to $1,000 per student, which does not even cover the increase in costs for special education services school districts are absorbing. Texas already ranks in the bottom 10 in the nation for per-student funding, and without substantial action to adequately fund public schools from our state government, this situation will continue to worsen.
Governor Greg Abbott has made the top priority for this special session the expansion of school choice through education savings accounts funded by public tax dollars, commonly referred to as a school voucher system. We strongly urge the Legislature to prioritize properly funding public schools before even considering allocating public tax dollars to private schools, which lack oversight and transparency, and are not held accountable to parents or the state. The state government's revenue sources, including local property tax recapture, largely come from districts like ours. Diverting funds to private schools before fully funding public schools would be an injustice to all of those who rely on public education in our state, including the 151 Texas counties that don’t have private schools.
We are also advocating for an early pay discount on recapture, similar to what is provided to corporate taxpayers. CISD sends a significant portion of its local tax revenue to the state through recapture. An early payment discount would help mitigate this impact and allow us to allocate more resources to competitively compensate our teachers and staff.
In addition, we will continue in our call for relief, accountability and transparency concerning recapture dollars, which do not go to other school districts, as many believe, but rather are put in the state’s general fund, which, again, has a surplus of $32 billion.
To make a difference in Austin, your CISD trustees will continue actively engaging in constructive dialogues with our state representatives and state senators during the special session. However, it is essential that our state legislators hear from more than seven of their constituents about how important it is to fund public education in Texas. Therefore, we urge each of you to express your support for adequately funding public schools, including CISD, to our elected officials. Here is a link with more information and some guidance on communicating with state elected officials on this topic — https://p2a.co/yL6gNzt.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott
Mailing address:
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428
Capitol number: (512) 463-2000
Email: https://gov.texas.gov/apps/contact-us/opinion
Texas State Senator Tan Parker
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 12068
Capitol Station
Austin, TX 78711
Capitol number: (512) 463-0112
District number: (214) 361-3561
Email: tan.parker@senate.texas.gov
Texas State Senator Nathan Johnson
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 12068
Capitol Station
Austin, TX 78711
Capitol number: (512) 463-0116
District number: (972) 701-0349
Email: nathan.johnson@senate.texas.gov
Texas State Representative Julie Johnson
Mailing address:
Room E2.310
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768
Capitol number: (512) 463-0468
District number: (972) 247-2087
Email: julie.johnson@house.texas.gov
Texas State Representative Benjamin Bumgarner
Mailing address:
Room E1.418
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768
Capitol number: (512) 463-0688
District number: (817) 491-7305
Email: ben.bumgarner@house.texas.gov
Texas State Representative Terry Meza
Mailing address:
Room E1.204
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768
Capitol number: (512) 463-0641
District number: (214) 596-9101
Email: terry.meza@house.texas.gov
At Coppell ISD, we strongly believe in our mission of “Working together, we are committed to creating profound learning experiences for each child, while nurturing meaningful relationships to positively impact our world.” We remain optimistic that the first two words of our mission, “working together,” will resonate throughout our great state in the coming days and weeks in order to adequately fund public education so all Texas school districts can create profound learning experiences for each child. We appreciate your partnership and support as we advocate for Coppell ISD during this special session.
Sincerely,
The Coppell ISD Board of Trustees
David Caviness, President
Anthony Hill, Vice President
Nichole Bentley, Secretary
Leigh Walker, Trustee
Manish Sethi, Trustee
Ranna Raval, Trustee
Jobby Mathew, Trustee